About
LEC’s right-of-way program
Laurens Electric’s right-of-way program is managed
by Willie Reid, Contract Coordinator. Willie has been
employed by the cooperative over 25 years, carries a commercial
license from the Department of Pesticide Regulation, and
is an active member in the South Carolina Vegetation Management
Association in Columbia.
Right-of-way maintenance is accomplished through side
trimming and removing trees and limbs, bush hogging underbrush
to allow access, and the use of environmentally friendly
herbicides. Urban areas are maintained utilizing a two-year
cycle and rural areas are on a four-year cycle. LEC spends
nearly $1 Million dollars a year trimming, treating, and
clearing right-of-way.
Our right-of-way clearance is 20 feet on each side of
the power line. If trimming needs to be done the tree
should be left in a healthy state, with some aesthetic
value. If this cannot be accomplished, we may opt to remove
the tree if it is cost effective rather than create an
eyesore and future problems. A danger tree is one that
is partially dead, shows sign of rot, or has insect infestation,
cankers, eroded root systems, conifers with brown needles,
or is a deciduous tree that will no longer leaf out and
clearly will cause damage to a Laurens Electric power
line that can create an unsafe condition.
Our crews pay special attention when evaluating the line
clearance before trimming or removing a tree. The National
Electric Safety Code requires us to follow a certain amount
of clearance around wires and trees. This can depend on
voltage, the tree's growth rate and other characteristics,
and the re-clearing cycle - how frequently it will need
to be re-cleared. In cases where we've encountered large
established trees on right-of-way, we have found that
the removal of limbs helps to redirect the future re-growth
away from the wires, thereby eliminating the need to remove
the entire tree. This also keeps maintenance costs to
a minimum while helping to insure that the tree won't
need drastic trimming in the future.
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